Monarchists
by lorcleis
Summary: The lost prince of the Drozdov family finally returned to Court, but he's been changed by his experiences outside of the vampire world. When Sasha enrolls at Dragomir University, he is quickly accepted into an underground Moroi combat league and catches the eye of the mysterious girl that controls it. [Next-Gen, CorinthVerse]
1. Chapter 1

**This is a continuation of Corinthians. While Corinthians has ended, as has the series, I will post as much as I have left. I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

When Sasha opened his eyes, he was in the lavishly decorated sitting room of a house he'd never seen before. The walls were painted a deep red, paintings with thick gold frames hung around a set of bookcases, and on a jade green settee before the fireplace, sat a girl.

She was reading a battered paperback, a pencil stuck behind her ear, and when she turned a page, she spoke.

"Are you going to stand there all day?"

Sasha gulped. "I..." He glanced around the room slowly.

"I said," the girl sat up in the settee, turning to face him. She was tall even sitting down, with tan skin like his own and long, dark hair lying straight and sleek on either side of her face, like a pair of curtains. She was young, maybe sixteen. "Are you going to stand there all day?"

"No," Sasha blurted out. "I don't think- no."

She quirked an eyebrow, the memory of a smile tugging at the edge of her lips. "That's not really an answer, but I'll take it."

Sasha struggled to take control of his quickening breath. "Where are we?"

She tilted her head to the side, studying him with the careful comb of a scientist. "The manor. Dad likes to call it some stupid fancy Russian name or whatever, but basically it means thrush, like the songbird."

His mind tucked this information away for later use, his objective now was to see if he was in any danger and how to get back to Corinth. He had no memory of coming here, of even going topside since everyone arrived back from the mission. After a glance around the room, he realized there were no doors or windows.

"Yeah, don't try to escape or anything drastic," she said. "Dreamscapes are pretty much a one room only sort of deal." She stood and approached him. "You're taller than I thought you'd be. What's with the man bun?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Who are you?"

"Priya," she said as if it was obvious. She poked his bicep. "These are huge, by the way. Do you do CrossFit?"

Sasha recoiled. "I don't know what that is."

"It's okay, Vova, I'll teach you." Priya smiled like a snake and flopped unceremoniously onto the jade green settee. "I've been tasked with that when you arrive anyway."

"You..." The gears shifted in Sasha's mind. Suddenly, it clicked. "You're the other Drozdov kid. You're my... sister."

Priya pointed finger guns at him. "There you go, bucko. Sister extraordinaire. To be fair, it's nice having someone to fill the Vladimir-shaped hole that's been left since you mysteriously disappeared."

"They named me _Vladimir_?" he asked. "This keeps getting better and better."

"What, you didn't remember your name?" Priya snorted. "What do they call you, the prodigal son?"

"Sasha, usually," he answered. "Aleksandr if I'm in trouble."

"Are you in trouble a lot?" Priya thumbed through her book.

Sasha chuckled. "I try not to be." He looked around the room again, finally at ease. "So is this like royal video chat or something?"

Priya shrugged. "Nah, it's just how I do things. Dream walking is fun, but people tend to get freaked out if I drop in unannounced."

"And you thought it didn't matter with me?" Sasha raised an eyebrow.

"I figured after being out in the wild for a few decades, not much can scare you."

Sasha cast his gaze down to his shoes and noticed a coin near his feet. He picked it up and noticed for the first time he was wearing normal clothes and not his usual t-shirt and boxers. He figured the dream created clothes for him and was grateful. If Priya had decided to call on a day he was in bed with Valya, that would have been quite a show.

"Shit, you need to go," Priya said, suddenly appearing directly in front of his face. "Someone's waking you up."

"Is this goodbye then? I can't say I enjoyed our time together," Sasha said.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'll be seeing you in a few days anyway, numbskull." She pulled his head down so he was forced to look her directly in the eye. "Remember this, Aleksandr Drozdov, Court is full of snakes, and our family is no different. You're the Drozdov heir now, and despite that face that Dad is like a lukewarm bowl of mayonnaise, there's a lot of enemies out there. Be careful who you align yourself with."

The edges of Sasha's vision began to blur. Priya began to slip in and out of reality. She went up on the tips of her toes and kissed him on the forehead.

 _"Wake up."_

Sasha gasped for air as he startled awake in the backseat of an imposing SUV. Valya was beside him, shaking his shoulder. In his hand was the coin he'd picked up in the dream. He shoved it into his pocket before Valya could see it.

"Wake up, Sasha," she said. "We're here."

He sat up in his seat and rubbed at his eyes. He must have fallen asleep on the car ride from the airport, but his mind was struggling to put two and two together.

"You ready?" Valya grasped Sasha's hand as the car drove through the large gates and entered Court.

Sasha took in an unsteady breath and kept his eyes on the horizon, but turned at the last second to look at her. His demeanor immediately softened and he rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"We're going to stay with the Castiles, since they're the sanest of the bunch and only Leigh is home right now. Apparently Bryn Mawr has some weird vacation times," Valya said, talking faster than her normal pace. She babbled on: "Leigh's really nice, you'll like her. I haven't met Aaron Drozdov, but I'm sure he's nice too. Court isn't that bad when you get to-"

"Valentina," Dimitri said from the front seat. "Be quiet."

Valya bit her lip and simmered down into a quiet bundle of nerves. To Sasha she seemed more nervous than he was and he reach out, smoothing her hair back behind her ear. It was little gestures that he'd found calmed Valya the best, especially when she got herself worked up for no reason. For Sasha, it was just looking internally and shutting himself off from the world for a while. It wasn't easy to isolate yourself at Corinth, but he found his ways.

Court wasn't at all like how Valya had described it to him. He thought it would look grander, more intricate; like the sitting room at the manor house Priya created in his dream. These buildings were just buildings, like the ones he saw in movies or on missions. But he could feel it, the pervasive tightness of the Guardians roaming the perimeter, armed with stakes. He knew they weren't there to defend Court from him, but it made him ill at ease already.

Dimitri parked the car in front of a modest town house. It was night and there were people walking up and down the streets, going to work. Sasha was unused to sunlight and appreciated that Court kept to a mostly Moroi timetable, but he wondered if it ever weighed on the dhampir. If they ever missed seeing the sun.

"We'll be here for today until Queen Vasilisa returns from a visit to St Vladimir's." Dimitri turned the car off and opened the trunk. "Take your things: Mr Castile is away with the queen and Mrs Castile is at work, so you'll have to entertain yourselves."

"Or I could do it."

Leigh Castile stood on the walkway to the house, her arms crossed over her chest. For someone Valya talked about non-stop, she didn't strike Sasha as someone that she'd be friends with at all. Leigh was dressed down to the extreme in a faded t-shirt and a pair of well-worn overalls; her nails were painted a chipped midnight blue and her curly hair was tugged back into a pair of twists that were slowly becoming undone, whether by force or by gravity. She didn't look dangerous, but from Sasha's experience, people who are rarely do.

"I'm Leigh." She stuck her hand out for Sasha to shake.

"Sasha," he replied.

They stood looking at each other for a few moments before Valya drew Leigh into a bone-crushing hug.

"I missed you!" Valya said.

"It's barely even been a month since I last saw you." Leigh rolled her eyes.

The exchange made Sasha smile. Valya had friends in Corinth- you couldn't live there and not become friendly with people- but she didn't have anyone that she hugged with such ferocity that wasn't family, and from Sasha's understanding, the Castile's were a bit like family.

Eddie Castile went to school with Stasla and so did his wife, Jill. Eddie was even the one who first stepped foot in Corinth, even though Adrian Ivashkov was the only person who recognized who Sasha actually was. He sometimes wondered what life would have been like if he'd never known, but brushed the thought away. It was better to live your life tormented and knowing, than blissful and ignorant.

"We need to go get some food. Pizza?" Valya asked Leigh. She grinned in response.

"No chance," Dimitri replied as he locked the car. "Aleksandr shouldn't be wandering about Court until the Queen arrives. We don't want anyone else figuring out who he is or where he's from until she decides how to release that information."

"Dominoes, then," Leigh said.

Dimitri smiled. "Yes, Dominoes is fine."

Over three pepperoni pizzas, two with pineapple (Valya) and one with mushrooms (Leigh), over mochas Leigh picked up from down the street and a metric tonne of popcorn, over croissants sent by Valya's stepfather that were so flaky Sasha was sure he'd be picking pieces of it out of his hair for days, they talked well into the morning. About Court, Strigoi, new fighting techniques, the merits of western cinema, Corinth initiation mishaps; everything.

It had been a while since Sasha felt at ease. Ever since the attack two years ago, he knew he wasn't welcome in Corinth anymore, but Stasla didn't have the heart to kick him out. What hurt him the most were looks, or lack thereof. People either decided he wasn't worth their time and refused to talk to him, or they stared at him openly, unashamedly surveying his face for signs of violence.

He did that sometimes, too.

It was late when Eddie arrived back at the Castile house. Leigh was sprawled out on the couch, with Sasha on the loveseat, Valya curled into his side. No matter how hard he willed himself to sleep, it wouldn't come, so he'd taken to changing the channels on the TV, aimlessly searching for something to hold his interest.

A knock sounded at the door.

Sasha glanced at Leigh to see if she was close to waking, but both her and Valya were deep in sleep. He carefully set Valya on the loveseat and covered her with a blanket, tip-toeing towards the door. It took him a moment to figure out the lock system, but eventually he opened the door.

"Hey Leigh, I forgot my-" Eddie paused mid-thought when he saw Sasha. "-keys. You're not my daughter."

"No, sir." Sasha reached out his hand. "Aleksandr Am- Drozdov. Aleksandr Drozdov."

A flicker of understanding crossed his face. He was taller than Sasha remembered, his dark blonde beard trimmed neatly and his hair pulled back into a plait. "Right, the Corinth kid. We met after the mission, didn't we?"

"Briefly," Sasha said. "Sorry for answering your door. Leigh and Valya are asleep."

Eddie nodded and pushed past Sasha into the house. He only had a small pack with him and was still wearing his Guardian uniform, albeit a bit more ruffled than normal. The way he moved was so elegant and calculated. This, Sasha thought, it how a truly skilled fighter should be. He'd heard stories of Edison Castile from Valya and Dimitri; he was someone to be reckoned with.

"Are you happy to be home?" Eddie asked.

Sasha put his hands in his back pockets. "Is it really home if I've never been there before?"

"People find home in the strangest of places," Eddie murmured. "Aaron Drozdov was an asshole when he was younger, but he's alright now. A little boring, if anything. Reva, though, she's a spitfire. You should be in good hands."

"I'm 25 years old, Mr Castile," Sasha said. "I don't need anyone to take care of me."

Eddie chuckled. "That's fair enough. When this is all over, are you going to go back to Corinth?"

Sasha paused. He knew people would be asking him that question, but he wasn't sure of the answer. Even after hours of pouring over what a life in Court might look like, he knew that Moroi were prized there, something to be kept on a shelf not put in the field. He wasn't sure he wanted a life where he had to hide himself. But then he thought of the stares, the whispers that hid around every corner of Corinth and faltered. He didn't want notoriety either.

"I'm not sure."

Eddie's expression changed, became softer, kinder. "You should check out what Christian's been doing lately. You know, Lord Ozera. If you don't want to go live in the Drozdov manor or return to Corinth, it might be a happy middle ground."

Sasha knew what he was talking about: the ambassador program. Valya was one, the only one at the moment. It was for Corinth residents to live at Court and vice-versa to build a "bridge" between the two communities. Sasha knew what it truly was: a way for Court to control Corinth.

"I'm not a spy," Sasha said bluntly.

"I didn't mean-"

"I'm not a spy."

Eddie let out a breath. "Alright. You're not a spy, fine. But he's doing other programs you might want to look into. University things. A scholarship would be pretty easy for a kid like you to earn."

Sasha pressed his lips together. "Is there a spare room for us to stay in? Valya would kill me if I left her on the couch. She gets this crick in her neck."

Eddie nodded, his eyes shining with the strangest feeling. "Upstairs. I guess Leigh got ahead of herself and didn't show you."

Sasha nodded. He went to the living room and picked Valya off the couch, cradling her in his arms. She stirred slightly, moving her arms so she clung to him, but didn't wake up.

"Goodnight, Mr Castile," Sasha said, inclining his head. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Aleksandr," Eddie said, an odd tone to his voice.


	2. Chapter 2

"So, how's Court?"

Priya Drozdov was doing stretches on a brightly-lit tropical beach, dressed in a dark orange swimsuit that reflected small gold specks. It hurt Sasha's eyes to look at.

"Haven't seen much of it," Sasha replied. "Are you going to make this a nightly thing? I have actual sleeping to do, you know."

"Yeah, yeah." Priya made a dismissive gesture. "You don't have anything better to dream about, and that's the truth. A little birdy told me that you're staying with the Castiles. Nice digs, they're royalty, you know."

"We're royalty, Priya." The statement still felt odd for him to say.

"But Jill Castile is actual royalty. As in sister of the queen status." Priya stood, her long limbs covered with grains of sand.

"Does this visit have any purpose?" Sasha regarded Priya with a careful eye.

"Just checking in. We got cut off last time," Priya said. "I'm curious about you."

"What do you want to know?" Sasha asked. He sat down in the sand, exasperated.

She shrugged. "I figured we could hang out, maybe go surfing. Do you surf?" Sasha shook his head. "Me neither, but it sound fun in concept."

"A lot of things are better in concept." Sasha glanced out at the waves.

"Like that girlfriend of yours?" Priya cocked her head to the side.

Sasha narrowed his eyes at her. "How do you know about her?"

She tapped her temple. "I can read minds. Well, not read, exactly. It's more like gleaning, but I'm good at inferring. I scored pretty high in critical reasoning last time I was tested."

He leveled a glare at her. "Are you shitting me?"

"I would never." She gasped mockingly. "It's my special. I'm a spirit user and all of us have something that makes us special. Lord Ivashkov can dream walk, the queen can make illusions and is a gifted healer, and I," She touched the side of her head, "Can see what's rattling about in there. At least when you're thinking it, that is." She paused for a moment, narrowing her eyes at him. "What's your magic?"

"Earth," Sasha said. He tried to keep his thoughts in check.

Priya's eyes glittered. "Oh, but you're not very good at it."

"Stop that," Sasha told her. "For a sister, you're not very nice."

"Are sisters supposed to be nice?" She surveyed her nails. "I wouldn't know. This is my first opportunity to be one."

He could feel a thinly-veiled threat beneath all of her snappy bravado and if he was ten years younger he might have some sort of sympathy for her position in life.

"I haven't had an opportunity to be a brother either, but look at me, getting kicked around by you like I'm some sort of lap dog."

Priya wagged her finger at him, clucking her tongue, circling him like a vulture circles its prey. "Don't be so testy, bhaiya. It's not nice on such a pretty face."

"Bhaiya?" Sasha stood his ground, resisting the urge to twist and turn to get a better look at her.

"It's Hindi," she said.

"Wait, I'm Indian?"

"Yeah, what did you think you were?" Priya asked, hands on her hips.

"Arab. The nurse in the medical wing named me Amin." He could a mirror in his mind being shattered, pieces of himself falling to the floor. "It means safety."

She shook her head. "You're half Indian, just like me. Dad's Russian really far up the line and Mom's family immigrated a few generations back."

Sasha kicked a shell near his feet. "At least they got one half of my name right." The sun glared overhead. "Can we go somewhere else? I hate the beach."

Priya sighed. "Alright. Is this better?"

The image around him faded and blurred, the colours running together until it'd become something new entirely. They were in a museum, but only a few different paintings were on the walls. Priya, now clad in a conservative navy blue dress, sat down before Monet's Water Lilies.

"This is my favourite painting," Sasha said quietly. He sat down next to her.

"An earth user loves a painting of plants? Quelle suprise." There's a light tone to her voice, even if it is mocking.

"We only had a few art books when I was growing up; money would be spent on more important things like food and supplies than it would be on entertainment." Sasha stared at the painting. "I would hide them under my bed and look at them during the night, when everyone else was asleep. This one always caught my eye, though." His voice lowered to a whisper. "I'd never seen so much water in person before."

Priya stayed silent, the first time he'd ever heard her do that. After a minute, she laid her hand on his.

"I'm sorry for coming on a little strong," she said. "You've just been the center of our family for so long. It's the family mystery: where did Vladimir go?"

"And now I'm back." Sasha stared straight ahead.

"And now you're back," Priya repeated. She dropped his hand. "Sorry if Mom and Dad don't know what to do with you. They've been waiting for so long; this is like a dream."

Sasha glanced around the museum; it had no windows or doors, but was brightly lit. "What did you think happened to me? When I was gone?"

Priya laid her head on his shoulder and smiled. "Kidnapped by aliens."

Sasha wore a smile of his own. "Well, you're not far off."

* * *

"Vladimir Drozdov."

The Queen wasn't as regal as Sasha had imagined her to be, and somehow that put him even more on edge than he was to begin with. She was impossibly tall, looking down her nose through green-rimmed spectacles at him as she sat at her large desk. A small gold crown perched on top of her head, no more than an Alice band in width with small emeralds embedded along the center. Her hair fanned out across her shoulders in waves of blonde streaked with the occasional silver. He thought it odd that she, a queen, had her hair down like so many younger woman he'd seen around Court. She glanced at a file on her desk. Even from his seat opposite her, he could tell that it had his name on it.

"Aleksandr," Sasha corrected. "My name is Aleksandr."

Lissa locked eyes with him for a moment, then nodded. "I'll have them fix that in the file. I nearly died the day Aaron named you Vladimir; I'm glad you're deciding to keep your other name."

"They might as well have named me Vampire McVampireson," Sasha said, testing the waters.

One of Lissa's guardians snorted.

"You're quite the fighter, I hear," Lissa continued. She opened the file and scanned through what little there was of it. "I had Commander Hollis send over your file after Lord Ivashkov notified us of your... situation. I must say, the Corinth training program is impressive." She looked up at Sasha, comparing what she saw in person with what she saw in the file. "Have you seen much combat?"

Something in Sasha stilled; his throat felt tight. "Yes, but I'm no longer allowed to participate in combat missions."

"Yes," Lissa murmured. "The Vancouver attacks. What a loss of life."

He could feel the other Guardians in the room tense at the mention and knew they'd been informed of his history as well. There was something so inherently violating as your secrets being told without your knowledge. Although, if they were to ever have any interest in him in the first place, he would rather it be for his skill in combat than for anything else, like his heritage. He saw what having a revered family line did to Valya growing up and he didn't want to rely on the actions of others to dictate what he was able to do in life. That was his worst nightmare.

"But you've atoned, or so Hollis says, and that is that." Lissa closed the file and clasped her hands on top of her desk. She leaned, ever so slightly, towards Sasha like they were old friends. "Aleksandr, what would you like to do?"

"I-" He paused. "I'm sorry?"

"What would you like to do?" Gone was the stern exterior of the queen he'd just met. Now it was replaced by someone light and welcoming; a mother, he realized. "Would you like to live at Court? At Corinth? Work? You know, our ambassador program is beginning to make real progress. Guardian Belikov's daughter has helped tremendously."

I'm not a spy.

The words he said to Eddie the previous night echoed around his head, but he felt that saying them to the Queen of all people was probably not the best idea.

"I'm unsure at the moment," he said with a tight smile. "Things are a bit... up in the air."

"Well, Aaron has expressed the desire to bring you back to the Drozdov manor at some point," Lissa said. "It's a positively dreary place, but you'd be well looked after."

"I'm 25 years old, I don't need looking after," he said on instinct. Everyone at Court seemed to think he was a child.

A spark shone in her eyes and she placed her chin on her clasped hands with a smile. "You remind me of someone, Aleksandr. Such fight in you." She turned to the Guardian nearest to her. "Is Christian out of his meeting yet? Can you tell him to come to my office when he's done?"

The Guardian nodded and left the room. The door latched behind him.

"My husband will show you around Court," Lissa said. "He's no tour guide, but I think you'll get along very well."

"Isn't he the head of the ambassadors?" Sasha asked, doing his best to keep his tone neutral.

Lissa quirked an eyebrow. "Yes, among other things. He championed Moroi combat here, as well as introducing several bills in parliament that helped to speed along our magical development department. You two will find much to talk about."

A smile tugged on the edge of Sasha's mouth. Much to talk about, indeed.

* * *

As it turned out, the fun tour consisted of much less actual history and much more personal history, specifically his part in the infamous jail break following Queen Tatiana's assassination, exactly how many statues they blew up, and all of the hi-jinks that followed as they were attempting to clear Rose Hathaway's name.

Cool, Sasha thought. He didn't have another word to describe it.

"Now that was parliament, but it's full of stuffy, boring old men like me," Christian said, pointing out the building as they slowly rolled down Court's main street. "And there's also the throne room, but instead of that, which you'll no doubt experience in it's full nonsense later, we'll be going somewhere more your speed."

Sasha snorted. He didn't have a speed, and even if he did, Christian Ozera would not know what it was.

They drove out of the main buildings of Court, through rolling fields and forests down a long driveway. Sasha couldn't imagine this was still within Court's boundaries, but the imposing wall at the entrance appeared to go on for miles, so it was definitely possible.

"We expanded Court twenty years ago to begin construction on my best project to date," Christian explained.

Spires were visible over the tops of the trees as they approached a cluster of buildings built in the style of Gothic Revival, each stone fitting perfectly against the other based on pressure and weight. They pulled into the main roundabout in front of a tall building on a hill and parked. From their vantage point, Sasha could see a sprawl of other, smaller buildings with lighted pathways between them.

Christian exited the car and stood next to Sasha, a satisfied grin on his face. "Welcome to Dragomir University."

"A university?" The thought felt odd to him. "Who at Court goes to college? I thought it wasn't allowed."

"Well, it wasn't. Only a select amount of Moroi went to a handful of tiny institutions near Court where their safety could be guaranteed, but here," he gestured to the buildings, "anyone can attend."

Sasha spied a group of students only a few years younger than him, laughing on their way to class, books in their hands, and he felt something tighten in his chest. He'd never been able to go to school, not like this. He wasn't even sure he'd know how to.

"Come." Christian patted a stunned Sasha on the shoulder. "Let's go look around."

They walked down the grassy knoll. With the lighted pathways, it was almost as if the sun was up: a light, warm glow covering every inch of the main quad. Charming street lamps book ended a set of park benches where a few dhampir students were eating sandwiches.

"What do you know about Moroi combat, Aleksandr?" Christian asked, his hands in his pockets. He was clearly in his element, the studious energy of the university making him seem more alive by the second.

"I know it's not allowed at Court," Sasha replied quickly.

"Is that what they teach you at Corinth?" Christian asked.

"Yeah," Sasha said, at a loss for another answer. "It's how it's always been, hasn't it? Moroi are to be protected."

"Not here," Christian replied. A wicked grin grew on his face. "Here, the Moroi protect themselves."

Sasha had to stop himself from taking in air too quickly. It was one of his many reservations about Court: that he would be a complete anomaly. At least Valya was a dhampir; she could blend in easily with her heritage and her Corinth training, but Sasha was a Moroi, and not only that. He was a Moroi whose only skill was fighting; there was no place for him in a society where the Moroi were placed on a shelf and locked away. Life in a china cabinet. He could tell Christian knew he was about to burst.

"Could," Sasha began. He fumbled with his words. "Could we see it? The Moroi classes, I mean. I-"

"Don't worry about it," Christian shook his head. "I've got the perfect one for you to observe."

They made the short trek to a small building with a high ceiling; the sign outside read 'Mason Ashford Gymnasium.' The weather was nice, so none of the students were training indoors, but out on the grass in full Dragomir University combat uniform. The bodies were a blur of green and gold as several different pairs of students sparred; occasionally a burst of fire or rush of air accompanied a move.

They were all Moroi.

Christian turned to look at Sasha. "It's great, isn't it?"

"It looks like-" The words caught in Sasha's throat.

It looks like home, he was about to say. It looked like the version of Corinth he'd always wanted; without the unending, claustrophobic feeling of others' gazes. He saw a few students looked up at him, but it was only in mild curiosity, nothing else. The relief that swept through him almost brought him to tears.

"Would you want to go here?" Christian asked.

"Sorry?" Sasha replied.

"As a student," Christian clarified. "You'd have to send in an application, but I can give you a glowing recommendation. I am the founder, after all."

Suspicion sliced through Sasha like a knife. "You don't even know me."

"No, I don't." Christian crossed his arms. "But I know Aaron and Reva Drozdov, and they'll want to lock you away until you wither and die. They'll never let you return to Corinth and I get the feeling that you don't want to return anyway. Eddie already told me you have no interest in becoming an ambassador with Valya, which I thought was strange to begin with, but I'm willing to overlook that. Adrian tells me you have an affinity for art and study. You like books, maybe you'll like a more traditional scholastic experience than the one you received at your old home."

Sasha had to laugh, he just had to. Even though he knew Christian wasn't a spirit user like his wife, he wondered if a bit of her powers had rubbed off on him after all of those years. "Sounds about right."

"So?" Christian asked. "Is that a yes?"

Sasha's eyes followed the students as they sparred. They seemed so free, so comfortable in what they were doing. Nothing hindered them in the slightest. "That's a maybe." He looked at Christian and broke into a smile. "Do you fight?"

"Is that a challenge, Drozdov?" Christian asked good-naturedly. He shook his head. "I'm not going to fight you, but I'll fight someone else. Hey Mia!" Christian called to the instructor, a short woman with blonde hair. "Get us a mat! I'm going to put you on your ass again!"


	3. Chapter 3

"Are you excited to meet the rentals?" Priya asked, a lavish, floor-length mink coat wrapped around her shoulders. She sported glittering emerald earrings the size of a robin's egg and oversize sunglasses studded with pearls.

Sasha groaned. She'd dressed him in a tuxedo with an outlandishly patterned jacket. "Can't I get one good night's sleep?"

Priya shrugged. "That depends on your definition of good and sleep and night."

They were outside in a parking lot, Priya lounging on the hood of a black limousine like a self-satisfied cat. She tilted her head upwards, as if to catch the nonexistent rays of sun in the dreamscape's sky.

"I'm going to see you tomorrow, can you please let me sleep?" He closed the space between them. "I promise I'll make it up to you, but I really need to go to bed."

She smiled a tiny, secretive smile. "Oh yeah, you were up to other things with that girl you keep thinking of."

The blood drained from Sasha's face and Priya laughed.

"Yep, that's the one." She raked bright red nails through her hair. "She's a pretty one. A Belikov, right? It's been all over the gossip channels where I go to school."

Sasha rolled his eyes. "Yes, not like it's any of your business."

Priya waggled her eyebrows. "To answer your earlier comment, no, I won't be seeing you tomorrow. I'll be stuck in the aforementioned hellhole known as my education."

He sat up on the limousine's hood beside her. "You have to be the most dramatic human being I've ever met."

"If the shoe fits."

They both laid back on the hood, the stars spread out before them like a carpet of diamonds, scattered to the edges of the universe. It wasn't warm nor cold in the dreamscape; like not existing anywhere. Somehow, it was peaceful.

"Do you love her?" Priya asked. "Your girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Sasha said. "She's made that very clear to me." He paused for a moment, his hands tapping against the hood. "But yes, I do love her."

"Valya," Priya whispered. "What's she like?"

Sasha let out a breath, long and slow, as he thought. "She's... fine."

"Ha!" she laughed humorlessly. "That sounds like a man in love."

"Hey," Sasha poked her in the shoulder. He settled down, letting his head rest against and his hair splay out over the slick black paint. "Not being with her is like... suddenly everything is a few degrees colder, and food doesn't taste the same anymore. It's like being numb to anything that tries to get through; the world is further away. But when I'm around her, she's like the sun. Everything is brighter, better. Life in technicolor."

"Sounds like shit," Priya said softly.

Sasha chuckled. "Yeah, it is."

A silence stretched out between them as they laid there, staring up at the stars. Eventually, Priya shifted to the side, nudging him lightly with her shoulder.

"Are you going to give Mom and Dad a hard time?" She asked. "You know, for losing you?"

Sasha turned as well, so they were facing each other. His eyebrows knit together. "Why would I do that?"

She cast her glance downwards. "I don't know. Maybe if they'd been a bit more careful, you would have grown up with us."

He shook his head. "It's no one's fault what happened, least of all..." He hesitated. "Mom and Dad's. Least of all yous."

The corners of her mouth tugged upwards, but her eyes still looked sad. "Feels weird, doesn't it? To call them Mom and Dad."

He said nothing and closed his eyes, pressing his forehead against hers. "Can I sleep now, Priya?"

"Anuja." She smiled. "It means little sister. You'll need it if you're going to be in this family, bhaiya."

"Good night," he said. Then, hastily added, "Anuja."

She smiled wider. "Good night, bhaiya."

* * *

Valya didn't wake up until Sasha had already come back from the feeder room, a complicated process that felt alien and entirely wrong to him after a lifetime of feeding from blood bags. Valya and Leigh were at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and laughing about something or other.

"Hey, are you almost ready to go?" Valya asked. She glanced at her watch. "Dimitri's coming to pick you up in thirty minutes."

Sasha sat down at the table with a frown. "You're not coming with me?"

"No." Valya looked startled. "Not unless you want me to. I mean, they are _your_ parents-"

"It's fine," Sasha waved her off. "Go have fun with Leigh. Pick out tea towels for your new apartment or something."

"Hey," Valya threw him a glare. "I already have them picked out, thank you."

"Of course you do," Sasha muttered, shaking his head.

Valya sat, looking at her empty coffee cup as if she thought more would appear.

"Weird energy in here." Leigh took a sip from her cup, then stood, taking Valya's mug with her. "Come on, Belikova. Go get your stuff."

"Where are you guys going?" Sasha asked at their retreating forms.

"To hit things with sticks!" Leigh shouted back.

They headed for the front door with a chorus of goodbyes.

"Ciao, Drozdov!"

"Bye, Sasha!"

The door latched and just like that, Sasha was alone again.

* * *

He knew he shouldn't be nervous, but he was, and then he thought that he should be nervous, and that made him somehow more nervous than before. Sasha wiped his sweaty palms off on his jeans as he sat on the bench outside the Queen's private office. It felt like the waiting room in the medical wing or the short, squat chairs outside the head trainer's office as you awaited your final exam grades.

On the edge of a precipice.

He knew his parents were already there, talking to the Queen about something or other. His father was a friend of the Queen's, which he supposed put him in good standing as well, seeing as both Lissa and Christian took the strangest of shines to him. Sasha couldn't wrap his head around what Christian had showed him the day before; he could have a future fundamentally different from anything he'd imagined he would, all he needed to do was say the word. It put pressure behind his eyes and temples, pushing inwards with the weight of it, pushing outwards with the possibilities.

"Are you alright?" asked Dimitri. He sat to Sasha's right, his hands clasped in his lap and his eyes boring holes into the wall opposite.

"Now that's not a question I've ever heard you ask me before." Sasha put his head in his hands with a sigh and pressed his palms against his eyes. "Sorry, I'm just- Sorry."

Dimitri pat Sasha on the back in a manner Sasha was sure he meant to be reassuring, but Dimitri's strength made it feel a bit more like being punched. "They are good people."

"You know, people keep telling me that, as if I would assume the worst?" Sasha said, his elbows balanced on his knees. He unfolded one of his clenched fists where he held the coin Priya had made in his dream. "As if I would suddenly think my real parents must be monsters or something?"

"You've been lucky so far, Aleksandr," Dimitri said in that low, rumbling voice of his. "Everyone you've met at Court has been kind to you, but not all of them are like that. There are some true villains here, and there's nothing we can do about it."

"There's villains everywhere," Sasha muttered. He sat up, fiddling with the coin in his hand. "It makes no difference to me if we're related. We're all idiots."

Dimitri snorted. "Have you given much thought to what you'll do afterwards?"

"After all this is over?" Sasha shrugged, the copper coin glinting in the light. "I'd rather not give any thought to that if I can help it."

"That's fair." Dimitri grew silent and watched as Sasha did tricks with the coin. "It's a shame you won't join the Guardians. I've seen how you are with Valentina: you'd made a fine protector."

Now it was Sasha's turn to snort. "I'm sure I wouldn't be allowed to even take the exam. I'm Moroi, remember?"

Dimitri shook his head. "That doesn't matter anymore. Times are changing, and while progress at Court has been slow, we're beginning to change with it. You could be the first Moroi promised Guardian."

Sasha threw the coin into the air and caught it, pocketing it once more. "Nah, I'm good. It's weird, being in this bidding war. You want me for the Guardians, Valya wants me for the ambassadors, Lord Ozera wants me to join the college... You all have agendas, I don't like it."

Dimitri smiled. "You're a smart man, Sasha. I'm sure you'll make the right choice."

"Yeah." Sasha sighed. He felt ten years younger. "Whatever that is."

The door to the Queen's office opened and they were gestured to enter. Sasha stood, his palms sweaty again, and walked through the doorway.

"Aleksandr." The Queen smiled at him from behind her desk, not a hair out of place. "Meet Reva and Aaron Drozdov, your parents."

The two people sitting opposite the queen stood and all the breath in Sasha was knocked out of him. There was his father, tall and as pale as the moon with hair that was graying at the temples. He had Sasha's nose and his high cheekbones, the way his eyes widened into perfect circles, the dark overhang of his eyebrows and the slight pout to his lips. And there was his mother, her skin dark as Earth with limbs like his, long and elegant. She had Sasha's thick eyebrows and gray eyes, his perfect teeth and oval fingernails, the way his middle fingers tilted slightly to the left and how his chin squared off at the end, a dimple in the center. Reva was taller than Aaron, long, thick curtains of hair framing her face much like Sasha's does when he manages to let it down for more than a minute. He was them, and they were him, a perfect reflection stretching on for infinity in either direction and he wondered why he'd never thought to search for someone who mirrored him so perfectly before.

Suddenly, he knew what he was missing.

It was Reva who shot out to envelope Sasha in a soul-crushing hug and Aaron quickly followed. Soon, she was crying and her tears patterned Sasha's shirt.

"Mere laal," she said, sobbing. "Mere lalluu patuule."

"It's okay," Sasha found himself saying. It took him a few moments before he realized he, too, was crying. "I'm here, I'm fine. It's okay."

They stood, clutching each other fiercely, murmuring soft things to each other, paralyzed by their own feelings of relief and gratitude mingled with sadness. Sunned by how, after all these years, the bond never withered or died.

Sasha felt it now and understood: why wars were fought over this, why people died over this. He had a family now, and he was never letting it go.

* * *

Sitting across from a cafe, twiddling his thumbs as something called a chai latte was being made by the barista, was not Sasha's idea of a comfortable setting to bond with his parents. Truthfully, he couldn't think of a single comfortable setting for that besides maybe an unending void of nothingness, where no one would gawk or ask questions. Sasha Amin was not a fan of making his emotions a spectacle.

Drozdov, he edited himself. It's Drozdov now.

"So, do you like Court?" His father asked, quietly probing for a reaction.

Sasha felt like he was going to explode.

"Yeah, it's- it's fine." Sasha glanced around the coffee shop. A group of women drinking tea in the far corner glanced at the Drozdovs and turned to each other, gossiping. "It's different than I thought it'd be."

"Hopefully we can get a room cleared out for you at the manor," Reva said. She reached over and grasped Sasha's hand. "Your sister Priya is at school right now, but you'll meet her at winter break. She goes to Fallow Hall with the Dragomir girl, Rosalie."

Rosalie, huh? Sasha thought. Good name.

"We'll introduce you to everyone on staff, get you your own Guardian, maybe the eldest Castile." Reva turned to Aaron. "Can you get him off his assignment with Yuri? Lord knows that boy does not need any protection at Reed. Oregon, honestly. What were they thinking?"

"I don't need a Guardian," Sasha said, shaking his head. He gave Reva's hand a squeeze. "I've been trained to fight Strigoi, I can protect myself."

"You think that, Vladimir-" Aaron began.

"Sasha," Sasha interrupted. "Or Aleksandr if you really want to be formal."

Reva gave Sasha a pointed look. "We named you Vladimir."

"And I names myself Sasha," he replied. "I didn't even know you were alive until a month ago, at least let me keep my name."

"Reva..." Aaron whispered to her. She relented. "Sasha, all royal Moroi have a Guardian. It's just how it is."

Sasha sighed. "Alright, fine, but don't take a Guardian away from someone who needs it. I don't know how allocation works but, give me someone who doesn't have a Moroi to protect. I don't care who."

Reva dropped Sasha's hand and dug in her bag for her phone, immediately opening it to sift through a veritable library of contacts. Aaron, too jumped into action. "We could get an Ivashkov. Their eldest just graduated, didn't he?"

"No," Aaron muttered as he pulled out his own phone. "And he's not gotten very good marks recently. I think we should look into Mia's son; he's on duty at Adler right now."

Sasha sat back in his seat and watched his parents work themselves up into a frenzy; Reva calling everyone she knew to track down a lead on a good Guardian and Aaron searching into his parliamentary contacts to see who had recently dropped their Guardians. The chai latte came and Sasha was the only one to thank the barista, even though the spice in it was wholly foreign to him. A creeping feeling of unease spread through his chest.

"Maybe," Sasha began. "Maybe don't do this right now. I'm fine, I'm at Court. It's supposed to be safe here, right? I can get a Guardian later."

"Later..." Aaron repeated. "Alright. Later."

"Later," Reva echoed. Instantly, her expression changed to a glowing smile. "So, how are you?"

Sasha smiled, bemused. "I'm good. And you?"

Reva seemed to quiet for a moment, settling into a more comfortable expression of contentment. "We're great, now that you're here. What's your life like?" She paused. "Sorry, that sounded-"

"No, it's fine," Sasha said. He thought for a moment. "Well, I'm an earth user. I work in the greenhouse, usually growing plants. When I'm not on work, I paint sometimes. I run the daycare and teach kids about art."

"He's a teacher," Reva gushed to Aaron. "That's so wonderful!"

"I'm also a high-level combat cadet," Sasha added. "sixteen years of combat training and four years of field training. If you were wondering."

He could tell they were trying their hardest to seem supportive, but the idea of Sasha fighting and possibly being bitten by a Strigoi scared them and he saw, for the briefest of moments, a flash of who they probably where when they thought he was dead.

"I don't do that anymore," he said. He looked at his chai. "You don't need to worry."

"Well," Aaron said. "I'm a member of parliament and your mother runs the manor. She also helps conduct studies for the university. The Drozdov library is extensive and serves as a special collections of sorts."

"That's cool," Sasha said. He could feel words slipping. "I've never met anyone who does that before."

"You could learn so much at the manor," Reva said. "You could help your father draft laws or study in the library with me. And you can stay however long you like. The manor is your home now."

"About that." Sasha said. He looked off to the side where the women were still gossiping, their heads pressed closely together. "I was thinking of going to the university. Lord Ozera said he would give me a recommendation."

"Oh darling, you're far too old for that," Reva said.

"I'm 25," Sasha said, narrowing his eyes. "I thought that's when people went to college."

"But you don't need to go to the university," Aaron said.

"But I want to," Sasha said, his feeling towards his decision growing more fierce by the second. "I want to study magical combat there."

Reva and Aaron exchanged a look.

"And I hope you'll support my decision," Sasha said. He covered one of Reva's hands with his own.

She gave him a wan smile. "Is this what you want?"

Sasha looked into their eyes. "More than anything."


	4. Chapter 4

"That man of yours is interesting," Leigh said to Valya as they sat in a booth at a diner. Sasha was at a different booth on the opposite side of the restaurant, pouring over a stack of paperwork with Christian Ozera. "He keeps some odd company."

"Not my man," Valya said, cutting into her friend chicken with surprising ferocity.

"Just saying," Leigh held her hands up in defense. From what she'd seen of Sasha, she liked him, but his did radiate a weird energy that she wasn't used to. While Valya and Leigh were birds of a feather, Sasha was a different species entirely. "My uncle sure likes him."

"Yeah, I don't know what that's about," Valya said. She peered at them as they heated discussed some point on a regal-looking brochure, their expressions bright and open. "He got back from his meeting with his parents and he was... off."

"I'd be off too if my parents were Reva and Aaron Drozdov. They're like the two ends of an extreme," Leigh said. She'd known Priya for a short amount of time before she was switched out of St Vladimir's and into Fallow Hall and meeting Priya's parents explained everything about her behavior.

Valya raised an eyebrow and said nothing.

Leigh looked around surreptitiously and then leaned in to speak so they wouldn't be overheard. "So you know that Aunt Lissa dated Aaron Drozdov for a while, right? Yeah, before Christian got into the picture, they were probably going to get married. And then Reva, she's incredibly smart but also a total ditz. She keeps begging my mom to go for mani-pedis and some bullshit like that. I don't know, they're weird people."

Valya wrinkled her nose. "They sound like humans."

Leigh sat back against the booth, the sparkly red vinyl creaking under her weight. "Yeah, and they're always cooped up in that manor home. Some pretty infamous parties used to take place there back in my mom's day."

"Sasha's parents are former party people turned mysterious shut-ins?" Valya took a sip of her drink. "Figures."

Leigh jumped when Sasha appeared to her right, a huge stack of papers in his hand. He sat down next to Valya and kissed her on the temple.

"Hey, what's up?" He asked. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes wild.

"Nothing much," Leigh said. She turned her attention to her burger.

"What have you been up to?" Valya asked, gesturing to the papers.

"Oh, this?" He looked at them as if they'd just appeared. "It's nothing. Something Christian is helping me with."

"First name basis now, are we?" Leigh snickered.

"They're college applications, Leigh." Sasha's eyebrows hung low over his eyes. "Since I don't have anything to show for my high school career, he's just been helping me fill in some blanks."

"College?" Valya looked startled. "When did you decide on that?"

"Oh, I was given a tour yesterday, Valechka. Keep up." He landed a quick peck on her cheek. "It's amazing there, you should see it."

"Caroline nearly went there, but then she mentioned something about wanting to mingle with normal society," Leigh said. Then, seeing Sasha's confused expression, "Caroline's my charge."

He nodded. "Speaking of which, my parents want to get me a Guardian."

Leigh's drink nearly spurted out of her nose. "You? They want to get a straight-up Strigoi killing machine a Guardian? Why? So you can guard them?"

Sasha shrugged and slung an arm around Valya's shoulders. "No idea. I think they're worried I'll be dragged into the wilds of Canada again."

"Well, you're not going back to Corinth again, are you?" Leigh asked. "Then they should be fine with it. It's not like you need a Guardian if you're going to Dragomir U."

"Weren't you going to become an ambassador with me, Sanya?" Valya asked, confusion clouding her face.

Sasha sighed. "That just doesn't feel like the perfect job for me. Christian has given me some great advice on-"

"We were going to work together," she interrupted. "You promised."

"No, I didn't," Sasha said. "The ambassadors were always your thing."

Valya took his arm off from around her shoulders and moved closer to the wall, taking her meal with her.

"Valya," Sasha said, attempting to appeal to her.

"No," you've made your choice very clear, Aleksandr." Valya cut into her chicken, nearly cracking the plate in the process. "Go study, live it up, see if I care."

"Valya, don't do this in front of your cousin."

Leigh was glad either of them even acknowledged her existence at this point.

Sasha wrapped his arm around her waist, touching the strip of skin between the waistband of her jeans and her shirt lightly. "Think about it, Valechka. You'll be at Court, I'll be right down the road. We can see each other every day. I could get a car, learn to drive. We could see the mountains." He nipped lightly at her neck. "Don't say it doesn't sound nice."

Valya rolled her eyes. "Fine, it sounds... alright."

"Just alright?" Sasha began to tickle her.

She yelped, pushing at his hands. "Okay, okay, it sounds great!" She faced him, their noses touching, and kissed him. "Perfect."

Leigh gagged. "Can you two wrap this up? You're going to make me wretch."

Valya gave her the middle finger. It was how things seemed to be going these days.

* * *

One month later, after weeks of agonizing over every detail of his application in the tiny kitchen of Valya's apartment and the cushioned seats of Christian's office, he was sitting in the admissions office at Dragomir University.

"It's quite the case, Mr Drozdov," Marie Conta said. She glanced at Sasha's file sitting on her desk as if it was going to suddenly have the words she was looking for on it. "We've never had such a late entry into the university before. And never one from..." Her voice trailed off, her hand making a half-hearted gesture to himself.

"A rogue dhampir compound?" Sasha finished with a winning smile. "Trust me, I've never been to a university before either, Moroi or otherwise. The queen's consort, Christian Ozera, suggested I apply."

"Lord Ozera?"

"Yes, if you look on the last page of my application, I have a letter of recommendation from him."

Marie Conta raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure I can accept an application that has so many holes, Mr Drozdov. Not even your parents can attest to your academic capabilities."

"Living underground for two decades does that, Ms Conta." Sasha didn't feel like wasting time today.

She blanched. "Alright, in the interest of strengthening the partnership with... Corinth, I've been advised by Head Guardian Belikov to personally review all applicants from your... home base." She smiled tightly. "Would you be interested in specializing during your time at Dragomir University?"

"Yes," Sasha said. "I'm interested in combat."

"I..." Her jaw clenched slightly. "We do not allow combat recruits that haven't completed training at one of our academies."

Sasha pushed the sleeves of his shirt up, sitting slightly forward in his chair. It was odd, this feeling, as if he had all of the power in the room. They lost nothing by letting him into their school and he lost nothing from being rejected, but moreover they needed to have some sort of link to Corinth, a place where no one was interested in higher education in the slightest.

"Listen," he began, his hands clasped. "I have been training in combat since I was three years old. I've killed more Strigoi than even your fully-promised Guardians, let alone your Moroi, and I would have more to teach the program here than I would to learn, but I want to go here. My parents are trying to get me to stay in the Drozdov manor from now until I die, and between you and me, Ms Conta, I only just met them a month ago. You need someone from Corinth that your university; everyone who goes here is royal or pedigreed."

"Don't forget, Mr Drozov, you're royal now too," Marie replied, her expression sour.

He grinned in response. "What do you say?"

Marie narrowed her eyes at him. "How many Strigoi have you killed?"

"Twelve," he replied without missing a beat. "Four of those when I was seventeen."

Marie Conta smiled to herself, as if remembering something. "You'll need to take a combat exam."

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Really," Marie repeated, mirroring his eyebrow. "Then, if you pass..."

Sasha grinned and stood, holding his hand out for Marie to shake. "Thank you, Ms Conta. You will not regret this."

Marie took his hand. "I rarely do."

* * *

"She won't like this," Leigh said to Sasha as they both stretched in the gym nearest to the Castile house. "She told me she's worried about you fighting again, and I think this will only make her worry more."

"She doesn't need to worry," Sasha said. He pulled tape over his knuckles, which were already lightly bruised from a more intense training session with Leigh earlier that week. "It's not like Court even sends people out on missions. I'm just learning how to protect myself."

Leigh snorted. "You already know how to do that; you don't need to take a university-level entrance exam to prove it."

"Can we just fight already, Leigh?" Sasha asked. "I'm tired of talking."

"When are you not?" she muttered.

"C'mon," Sasha goaded her. "Try to land a hit."

It was a common taunt these days. Sasha was an expert at blocking and dodging, but being on the offense was a little bit harder. While Leigh learned more about trying to break through his defenses, he didn't learn much that would help prepare him for his combat exam and even worse, he wasn't very good at incorporating his powers into his attack patterns.

"Alright, Drozdov," Leigh said. "Prepare to eat mat."

She sprang into action, feinting to the left and then shooting out with her leg on the right, but he was too quick and dodged the kick before it could land. He bounced lightly on his toes, zipping from side to side.

"You have to actually attack me at some point, you know," Leigh said to him. "You can't just wait for me to do it."

Sasha rolled his eyes, but went along with her wishes anyway and nearly landed a punch when she'd pulled his wrist and used his energy against him to send him flying. He regained his balance and replied with a kick that swept Leigh off her feet.

"Illegal move, Drozdov," Leigh gasped. "They'll be looking for clean fighting, you know."

"What even is clean fighting?" Sasha retorted. "It doesn't exist when you're facing off against a Strigoi."

"But you're not," she said as she struggled to her feet. "You're fighting another student. Let's go again."

Sasha rolled his shoulders. "When are you going back to school again?"

Leigh scoffed. "Caroline is taking her sweet time weighing her options, so not for another week at least."

Begrudgingly, Sasha returned to the fighting stance.

"C'mon," Leigh said. "Hit me."

* * *

"Do you think you'll actually get in?" Priya asked that night. "You know, to the university? I heard it's pretty hard."

"It's not that hard." Sasha sat down on the hard bench in the dream museum. They were sitting in front of the Monet again, the colours swirling on the canvas.

"Or you're not that good," she said.

Sasha laughed. "You've never even seen me in action."

"No, I haven't," Priya said. "Mom and Dad are worried. They said you're getting worked up about it."

"I think you mean excited," he countered.

She shrugged. "Same difference. Do you want to be a Guardian?"

"No." He shook his head. "I just want to be... strong. Respected."

"How noble of you, bhaiya. Like a knight or something."

He snorted. "Yeah, or something. What do you want to do?"

"That's a bad question to ask someone in high school," she replied, poking him in the shoulder.

He smiled. "Sorry. For me it was pretty clear cut: become a soldier."

"And here you are, soldier no more." She smiled and reached up to undo the tie in his hair. "You should keep it down more often. I heard man buns can make you go bald."

"I'm not at risk for that in our family," he said. "Have you seen Dad's hair? Not a single bit of that hairline has receded. It's incredible."

"Yeah, good hair runs in the family." Priya ran her hands through her own waist-length locks. "I'm the envy of every thin-haired Russian bitch at my school."

"Language," Sasha warned.

She stuck her tongue out.

"Nervous?" She asked. He could tell she was trying to scan his mind for a response.

He looked at the painting with a smile playing at his lips.

"Not at all."

* * *

He didn't tell Valya about the fight, and that was with good reason, he told himself. All he said was he was taking an entrance exam, which was partly true. She was confined to her office for most of the morning pouring over paperwork for others who had applied to become ambassadors, making it easy enough for Sasha to slip out of her apartment with a quick peck to the cheek.

He didn't expect there to be a crowd.

"Uh, Christian?" Sasha struggled to swallow the lump in his throat. "What's, uh- what's this?"

"This?" Christian looked at the mat set out in the field to the side of the Ashford Gymnasium and the crowd around it that was steadily growing by the minute. "It's the jury of your peers. If they're impressed, you get in."

"This doesn't seem like how a university should operate," Sasha said quietly.

"It's not," Christian smiled to himself. "This one we took out of Corinth's rule book."

They descended the slope and approached the mat together. Christian broke off to talk to Mia Rinaldi, the head of the combat department for the university, and Sasha was alone to prepare. He wrapped his knuckles and he felt them, the stares, burning into his back, but he wouldn't let them cow him. He could use this, the fuel provided by the public spectacle, to help him channel his rage.

You've got a lot of fight in you.

He hear the Queen's words in his ears again as murmurs spread through the crowd and he squeezed his eyes shut.

Use it. Use their energy, you can do this.

"Drozdov!"

His head shot up when he heard his name. Mia Rinaldi, a short Moroi woman with a close crop of blonde hair, stepped onto the mat and gestured for him to approach.

"You'll be fighting me today." The corners of her mouth were upturned, as if she was perpetually smug.

"Yes, ma'am," He inclined his head.

"Don't call me that."

Sasha pulled his hair up into a knot on the top of his head and discarded his shirt to one side of the mat. The breeze was biting in the fall weather as he stood at one end of the mat and faced down the only barrier to his future on the other side.

"Alright," Mia said. "Show me what you've got."

Sasha drew in a single breath, feeling the energy that threaded its way through the crowd and pulled it to him. Then, he attacked.

And when Mia Rinaldi hit the mat two minutes later, he knew what victory felt like.


	5. Chapter 5

Valya was ecstatic, as was to be predicted. He swept her up in a massive hug. lifting her off her feet when he delivered the news. His parents were less so, but he could still see the pride in their eyes when he told them that not only was he one of only a handful that had ever entered so late in the semester, but also the only one who'd managed to knock Professor Rinaldi off of her feet.

"My boy," Reva said, pinching Sasha's cheek.

Her admiration made his cheeks redden but it felt nice, like how things were supposed to be. He was supposed to have doting parents and a brat sister and a girlfriend who drove him crazy.

Not my girlfriend, he edited himself.

Valya had insisted on a party and Leigh had insisted on booze, despite not being of age in America yet. She invited the rest of her brood to Valya's apartment, along with a slew of other friends they'd gone to school with.

"It's your introduction to normal society," Leigh winked at him and dragged him into the fray.

The bodies were packed into Valya's small front room and spilled out into the hallway, but the tenants in the other flats either didn't notice or weren't home, since no one had bothered to call the authorities yet.

We are the authorities, Sasha realized. Valya was the Head Guardian's daughter, Leigh was the Queen's main guard's daughter, and Sasha was the son of Lord Drozdov, practically a prince in his own right.

"Hey Sasha!" Leigh shouted over the music. "Meet my brother, Rory!"

The dhampir opposite Sasha was an imposing block of muscle with a buzzed haircut that only served to make him more intimidating. He had the sparkling green eyes of Eddie Castile but the soft, refined features of Jill. After a tense moment, he stuck his hand out for Sasha to shake.

"Nice to meet you, Sasha," he said. He turned to Leigh. "This the Drozdov kid?"

Leigh nodded vigorously, the alcohol hitting her harder than Sasha would have anticipated. "That's the one. Our own prodigal son!"

Sasha wrinkled his nose.

"You're the one who knocked Rinaldi out on her ass, aren't you?" Rory asked. Sasha could hear a gleam of admiration in his voice.

He nodded, suddenly feeling bombarded by the sheer amount of people around him.

"Cool." Rory had finished assessing Sasha and slung and arm around his shoulders. Clearly whatever test there was, he'd passed it. "Come meet a friend of mine. You'll probably see her around campus sometime."

"You go to Dragomir?" Sasha asked as Rory steered him towards the makeshift bar in Valya's kitchen.

"Nah," he shook his head. "I go to Reed in Oregon with my charge. I don't really get to study."

The puzzle pieces clicked together in his head. This was the Guardian his mother wanted to poach from him. It seemed laughable, but the Strigoi wouldn't stand a chance. They reached the bar and Rory tapped on the shoulder of a slender girl with her hair thrown up into a messy braid. She was mixing herself a drink that didn't seem to have any rhyme nor reason to its contents.

"Lani!" Rory shouted. He tapped on her shoulder again. "Hey Lani!"

She whirled around, her fists up, ready to tussle with whoever had interrupted her, then dropped her fists when she noticed it was only Rory. She returned to mixing her drink.

"What do you want, numb nuts?" she yelled over her shoulder.

"I want you to meet someone," he replied.

She turned back to them, annoyed but content with whatever drink she had in her hand. "Okay, shoot."

"Sasha, meet Kailani. Kailani," Rory pointed to Sasha. "Meet-"

"Aleksandr Drozdov," Sasha interjected. "I'm starting classes on Monday."

"Shit..." Kailani looked at him with an appraising eye. "I think I'm supposed to show you around on Monday."

Rory whooped. "You two crazy kids hit it off, okay? I have a kegstand competition to win and I am not letting Leigh take the title."

Kailani rolled her eyes at him then nudged Sasha's shoulder. "You want one?" she asked, gesturing to her drink.

"Nah, I'm good," Sasha said. Whatever was in there looked toxic.

"Suit yourself." She drank it with a blank stare. "How do you know Rory?"

"I know his sister through a friend back home." Sasha's vocal chords were straining to be heard over the pounding music. "I was staying at Leigh's house for a while until I could get into the university."

"Cool." Kailani stared at a point in the distance, occasionally drinking from her cup.

"So," Sasha shouted. "What do you guys do for fun around here?"

Her smile curled slowly onto her face, like smoke unfurling through the air. Then, she poured Sasha a shot of tequila and shoved it into his hands. "We drink."

* * *

Sasha didn't know it was possible for Moroi to get hangovers- he'd certainly never had one when he drank at Corinth- but there he was, Monday for his orientation, with a skull that felt fit to burst.

And when Kailani emerged from the main office with a stack of papers looking fresh-faced, her hair neatly swept over one shoulder and a piece of bubblegum in her mouth, he felt even worse.

"How did you wake up looking so peachy?" Sasha grumbled.

"I know how to handle my alcohol." She handed him the stack of papers. "Welcome to Dragomir U, fresh meat."

Now there was a term he'd only heard in movies.

"Yesterday wasn't a good enough initiation?" Sasha sifted through the forms with a dazed eye. "I thought college was all about partying."

"Yeah, but you actually have to do work at some point." She stuck her hand out. "Hi, I'm Kailani Mahi'ai, your guide for the day. What's your name?"

He narrowed his eyes, but shook her hand anyway. "Do you have to talk so loudly?"

"You were not saying that when I was shouting Toto's Africa into your ear at three in the morning," Kailani said. "C'mon, you have to go through the motions or I might get a bad performance review."

Sasha sighed. "My name is Sasha Drozdov, I'll be studying magical combat. Thanks for being my guide today, Kailani. You're so helpful!"

She took in air. "So sarcastic. But you're right on many of those points there, Sasha Drozdov; you're in some pretty accelerated classes for a freshman."

"Cool." He shrugged, unable to handle more than a few thoughts at a time at the moment.

Kailani grinned seeing his morose expression. "Come with me, Sasha. Let's get you oriented."

She was a good guide, he had to give her that. Where Christian waxed poetic about the university when it was founded, Kailani told him things that would actually be useful during his time there, like where the best cup of coffee was, how to avoid lines for feeders, and which professors to avoid. They'd just rounded the main gymnasium when they entered the quad and something caught Sasha's eye.

"Who are they?" Sasha pointed to a group of Moroi students that were lounging on the grass outside.

They were beautiful, alluring. Like the gold glow of youth was cast around them. In the middle was a girl who, while short for a Moroi, demanded attention with her thick eyebrows and straight Roman nose. Her long, dark hair cascaded in waves across her shoulder down to her waist and partially covered the neckline of a plunging tank top. She curled her fingers around the arm of the boy next to her, her nails the colour of blood.

The boy to her right was stately and thin, as if a breeze could blow him over if it was strong enough. He had a mess of brown hair spilling from the top of his head and round, thick-rimmed glasses obscuring his statuesque facial features and evergreen eyes. He pulled the girl's legs up so they laid across his lap, playing absentmindedly with the rip in the knee of her jeans.

On the girl's left was another boy, whom she lean up against like a chair. He had darker skin than either of them and shaggy hair that was cut haphazardly with scissors. His attitude was rough and tumble, but as he ran his fingers through the girl's hair he seemed anything but. He began to braid a small section of her hair, every one of his fingers covered in large, gaudy rings.

They moved around her like planets orbiting a sun. Sasha felt the sudden need to please them and gain their friendship. He shook the thought away from his head.

"They're inconsequential," Kailani replied. She narrowed her eyes at the group. "Norah Conta and her brainwashed golden boys."

"What?" Sasha raised an eyebrow.

Kailani sighed. "They're like the plot of Mean Girls, if all of the mean girls were sleeping together and Regina George also could shoot fire from her impeccable manicure. People call them the Heartbreak Brigade, but people are also quite often very stupid, so take that with a grain of salt."

"So they're in combat?" Sasha asked.

"Yep," Kailani glanced at the trio. "Norah Conta is the one in the middle. Beauty, brains, bullshit: she's got it all. The skinny one is Ashley Prescott. He's not royal, but he wants to be. Trust me. And then there's Loren Szelsky: resident bad boy. Any rumor you hear, it's probably about him."

Sasha watched them with a curious eye. He'd never been in the type of school that had this kind of power imbalance. In Corinth, everyone was equal and you worked your way up through the ranks; there weren't any popular cliques or overlords. Although, he had seen his fair share in the movies that were kept in the trainee rec room. They puzzled him, the Heartbreak Brigade. Sasha was not used to being puzzled.

"You won't see them in class, though, even with your accelerated course of study," Kailani added. She laughed humorlessly. "They're in the only all-Moroi combat group. Dopey, Gropey, Mopey, and me."

"You? You're in class with them?" Sasha pointed towards the trio, who had moved on from braiding Norah's hair to reading a book Loren had brought with studious sincerity.

"Astounding, I know," Kailani said dryly. "But they can't go it on their own. They might make up water, fire, and air, but they still need earth. Rumor has it, they're searching for a spirit user as well, but none have turned up in this generation yet."

As Sasha watched them from afar, Norah lifted her head from the book and made eye contact with him. She had an unscrupulous glance, but her face was so mesmerizingly beautiful it was like staring at the sun. Norah smiled, slow and cat-like. Sasha blinked, looking away in embarrassment.

"Don't get too attached," Kailani said, looking at Sasha's expression. "The last one in their little group died in the spring semester. Brigitte was a bitch, but she didn't deserve to be pulled apart by Strigoi like a rack of baby-back ribs."

"And you?" Sasha asked.

"What about me?" Kailani answered.

"Do you think you'll go the same way?" Sasha turned away from Norah's group sitting on the grass, but could still feel her gaze on him.

"I like to think that I'll go out in a more spectacular fashion. Maybe sparklers will be involved." There was a twinkle in Kailani's eye.

She was a curious girl to Sasha, unlike anyone he'd ever met before, but he had to remind himself that he hadn't really met a lot of people in his life. He was still very sheltered and at the age of twenty-five feeling as if he should know more about the world. Every time he sees something he can't explain, it seems to be completely ordinary to the rest of the world. He had a lot of catching up to do.

"You still have to show me the library," Sasha said. "I've never seen one in person before."

"Never?" Kailani seemed skeptical. She began walking towards a building towards their right. "You really did live under a rock."

Sasha followed her and said under his breath, "You have no idea."


End file.
